1979 Volume 24 Issue 4 Pages 303-309
To estimate the seed productivity of Rhodesgrass in North-eastern Thailand, an experiment was carried out at Pakchong Forage Crop Station from July 1973 to January 1975. Materials consisted of 12 lines developed by Grassland Division, Kyushu National Agricultural Experiment Station in Japan. Among the 5 harvests planned, seeds were not harvested in August 1974 as very few heads had emerged due to drought. Both the average of the 12 lines on head numbers per plant and seed weights per plant were definitely reduced at the second and the fourth seed harvest, in March 1974 and January 1975, as compared with the other 2 harvests which took place in November 1973 and September 1974. The averge of seed fertility also declined considerably at the second harvest. It is considered that such decreases were caused by the unfavorable climatic conditions, especially the small amount of rainfalls during the growing period. The performance on seed production at the first harvest was higher in Thailand than in Japan. The average of estimated annual seed yields was 563kg/ha. Such value is comparable to the yields obtained in the advanced countries where seed production techniques have been established. These results indicate that North-eastern Thailand will be one of the promising areas for seed production of Rhodesgrass.
